I suppose I have to be really careful right about now. This is a very delicate subject. I don't want to appear to be using the race card, but, that's exactly what happened with Priebus' replacement of Steele in 2011 as RNC chair.
I considered addressing this matter back in 2011 when Michael Steele the former Republican Committee Chair was kicked to the curb by the white, elite, Republican puppet masters during a reelection process for RNC chair. However, given Priebus' recent rants, and Steele's continued high profile, I figured it's still very relevant to the conversation, especially during a hotly contested presidential race.
The Republican strategy was obvious, when in January of 2009, Steele, the first African American chair of the RNC was selected as the token, I mean, the first black to head the mostly white party of obstructionists.
Barack Hussein Obama, the first African American president elected to the presidency of this country swore oath in in the same month that Steele took his position as RNC chair. The Republicans were livid after seeing their old warhorse and the Wasilla Hillbilly defeated in the 2008 election. They figured, if the Democrats can get a black man elected to run this country, by golly we'll elect a black man to run our party. Well, kinda sorta. They were well aware that Steele was comfortable with playing second fiddle as demonstrated by his position as the first African American Lt. Governor of Maryland. He knew well how to get along with the majority white, he was polished, the talking points were spot on, hell, the only thing that hindered him was his color, but that was an asset for the Republicans in 2009, especially given the fact that they had to somehow counter Obama with someone of his own race that wouldn't appear to be racist as he pushed the Republican talking points that often border on bigotry, racism and white privilege.
Steele actually did an amazing job for the RNC. This tidbit spells out his accomplishments while RNC chair.
Under Michael Steele’s leadership the RNC broke fundraising records in the 2009-2010 cycle by raising over $192 million; and, for the first time in U.S. history, a party that suffered losses in consecutive elections as catastrophic as Republicans did in 2006 and 2008 rebounded to win a majority in the U.S. House or Senate in the next election. Republicans won 63 House seats, the biggest pickup since 1938, and the largest gain en route to winning a majority since the 1800s. For good measure, Republicans won the greatest share of state legislative seats since 1928.
Not only did Steele do a great job as chair, he far exceeded their expectations. The RNC also failed to recognize that Steel was an effective Pitt bull raging against the Democratic Party and the newly elected president. Not only was Steele a great puppet, a great financial producer, he was great at ad lib. You would have thought that after having accomplished as much as he did, not just the unbelievable fundraising which is extremely important, after all, money is what makes politicians dance, right? But perhaps more important, was the seizing of the house in 2010 and the removal of the Republican's arch-nemesis Nancy Pelosi.
You would have though that this guy was a shoe in for reelection as RNC party chair. However, by 2011, the Tea Party had all but hijacked the GOP. We've all known that the Tea Party is a primarily white movement meant to "return America to what it once was." We all heard the shouts of "I want my America back." It was clear that the puppet masters within the Republican party heard that call loud and clear, and besides, they were done trying to be politically correct or counter the black President with a black Chairman.
By now the conversation in America had gotten to the point where you could openly make racist statements and comments on cable news shows, and it was considered just being brazen, bold, and outspoken. If anyone dared call them racists or bigots, they would flip the conversation and point out, that if you brought up race, you must be the racist.
So the selection was obvious, a hand picked and polished white puppet from Wisconsin, With a cheesy name to boot, Reince Priebus. Priebus campaigned on change and a return to what was before Steele.
He said:
"I'm not running for Chairman because I think I'm better than anyone or because I think I have all the answers. I'm running for chairman for only one reason: I believe our country is in a time of great peril and we have to do something about it."To turn around the RNC, Priebus said, "I will keep expenses low. I will put in strong and serious controls. We will raise the necessary funds to make sure we are successful. We will work to regain the confidence of our donor base and I will personally call our major donors to ask them to rejoin our efforts at the RNC."
I think the "I will personally call our major donors to ask them to rejoin our efforts at the RNC", meant, I will work closely with the Koch brothers to ensure we keep the bucks rolling in.
Priebus went on to say:
He believed the RNC is "part of" the Tea Party movement; he believed it is the Republican Party's mission to "save our country, to save our party and to take back the White House"
That's all she wrote! Priebus was in as RNC party chair. It was easy as that. You kick the black man to the curb, throw him under the political bus and you move on with the mission of returning America to the days of yesteryear.
Priebus has turned out to be a perfect fit for the Republican party. He's aggressive, makes inappropriate statements, doesn't give a damn about being racially insensitive or politically correct. He's certainly on the warpath. His latest rant according to the National Journal is as follows:
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus attacked President Obama on Sunday, citing issues from negative campaigning to last week’s lukewarm jobs report.
“This president can’t fulfill a promise,” he said, rebutting Democrats who defended Obama’s performance on Fox News Sunday. “They live in Fantasy Land. We are going to put this dream of theirs to an end.”
Priebus called Obama “the most divisive, nasty, negative campaigner this country has ever seen,” but added that voters will likely be focused on Obama’s handling of the economy and jobs growth.
“I don’t think people are begging for another four years of this misery … with a president who acts like he’s not living on Earth,” he said.
I believe Reince Priebus is exactly what the RNC was looking for, he carries all the right qualities needed to run the Republican agenda, more importantly, he is white, and that, to the RNC contributors and the Republicans in general is one of the most important factors. Now they can get to work on electing a white president.
Carlos E. Galindo is a radio talk show host & political analyst conducting radio shows in both English and Spanish on four radio stations in Arizona. Mr. Galindo is a weekly contributor to KPFK 98.7 FM Los Angeles and W60 AM Radio, Los Angeles, San Diego and has appeared on CNN, Univision and Telemundo as a political analyst. Mr. Galindo is also an Op-Ed columnist on Prensa Hispana and the Tucson Citizen in Arizona. Carlos Galindo is President and founder of the Immigrant Advocacy Foundation, Inc.
http://www.carlosgalindo.com